TODD

“He’s asleep,” Companion reported. He cast another heal on the man. Kai murmured something in his sleep, but did not wake.

“He was doing so well,” Grandmother commented, guilt stained on her expression.

“I think that was grit,” Todd responded. He wanted to mention that even Joe puked after one of Grandmother’s little runs, but decided he couldn’t betray the older man that way.

“It is probably his leg,” Sarah offered. “Companion and I both noticed it was affected by the heal. He must have had deep scarring there, leaving it weak.”

“Oh, I should have realized. He moved awkwardly even after he dropped his old man act,” Grandmother commented. “We’ll take it down another notch tomorrow and give his leg time to strengthen up. We are not as far from Chicago as I really wanted to be before stopping for the night. Can you carry him?” Todd looked up and found that Grandmother was looking at him.

“Yeah, I can take him,” he conceded.

“Excellent,” Grandmother declared. “Try to get him to drink some water before you pick him up. Companion, can you take Todd’s pack? Ellen, you can take Kai’s.”

They had some success getting water down the sleeping glass crafter. Todd wished he had some broth to feed the poor guy. He would try to make some when they set up camp for the night. They all took advantage of the break to get a drink and a quick bite to eat. They didn’t usually take many breaks. Todd was pretty certain Grandmother stopped for Kai to rest, she just overestimated his endurance or maybe underestimated his grit. The man seemed an odd combination of pessimism and determination.

When they took off again, Grandmother pushed the speed up. They were running very close to the tier three max. Companion was cheating and using momentum spells. Todd was really wishing he could sing well enough to cast sixth tree spells, but the final sound of two notes at once eluded his abilities. He may be tier four, but he was carrying the weight of a full grown man. Although now that he thought about it Kai was way too light for his size. They needed to feed him up.

The light panels overhead ticked down a notch in a clear indication of the approaching night. Todd was one with his misery, certain he too was going to puke when they stopped. He kept telling himself that if Alex could carry Companion, he could carry a skinny crafter like Kai.

“Hold up,” Grandmother called. Todd forced himself to breathe as he slowed to a stop. He waited for the nausea to pass before he set Kai down. They were in a small rest. They were far enough north that there were shreds of cloth and fiber clinging to the complete if rusty furniture frames. Ellen was deep into the guts of the sofa. Todd knew she was working on how to add upholstery to a component frame. It appeared she was taking this opportunity to figure out how the structure thought it should be done.

Companion and Alex were on outer watch while Grandmother and Sarah were having a discussion about maps. Todd moved Kai so he was out of the way of traffic. He retrieved his pack from Companion and set up his stove to cook a hot dinner. Grandmother sat down next to him.

“It will be three days to Ellensburg at Kai’s speed,” Grandmother commented.

“Is that a problem?” Todd asked.

“Not really. Ellen will be a day or two late picking up her sponges, but I don’t see them throwing them out that quickly,” Grandmother replied. Todd wondered what a sponge was. “Did you see anything interesting in the gallery?”

“It was too short. It did have seven furniture groupings, but the spaces in between were tight. I know the sanitary facility was ruined, but it was also small. The overgrown plants were pushing forward into the typical pool area. I could see glimpses of the wall tight behind leaves. I don’t think the room was even a third the depth of the room in our galleries,” Todd commented.

“I didn’t notice the sanitary facility,” Grandmother admitted. “But I think the whole gallery was also too narrow. The ceiling was too low for a gallery and only one in four panels were lit. That is a very low functionality ratio even for that section of the structure.”

“I saw you looking at the cracks in the stone wall, what did you think about them?” Todd asked.

“It reminded me of the cracks in the wall of the upper rest. That rest is located right on the edge. Chicago is not even in dark space. There really shouldn’t be cracks there,” Grandmother answered. “It feels like that gallery is trying really hard to remodel. I didn’t see any signs of a transportation room or even a food preparation room. I think someone might have told me there was a food vendor there once, but I can’t put my finger on that memory so maybe not.”

“If there was a food vendor, there must have been a food preparation room,” Todd observed. “There were guards at the water source, maybe they weren’t that vigilant with the vendor. If they allowed the room to be empty, Control might have used the opportunity to remove it.”

“Well we know if there was a transportation room it was always unoccupied, so the fact that there isn’t one there now might mean very little. When Control decided to start removing the rooms, the transportation room would have been the first to go,” Grandmother commented.

“So what we learned is Control really doesn’t like remodeling occupied spaces, but there are hard limits on the life of a room. Control will find a way to remove it eventually,” Todd concluded.

“Yep,” Grandmother agreed. “How are you doing with the plants for the upgraded rest?"

“I worked with Muriel to get all my plant selections. Right now they are in the planter boxes in Joe’s square. I need to get pots for them. Any container with a drainage hole in the bottom will work, but Muriel told me there are integrated planters in wildspace. They look a lot like any other pottery bowl, but when you fill them with water the water disappears. If you put soil in it afterwards the soil remains moist,” Todd explained. “I have three that I or Alex have found on his furniture runs. I need a lot more.”

“You should check the pottery shop in Seagrass. It sounds like something that a crafter should be able to make.” Grandmother commented. Todd nodded his agreement. “How about the… plumbing plant?” Grandmother asked.

“As far as Muriel knows no one has ever successfully dug one up. Their roots are incredibly tough and run deep. However she tells me that they are known to occasionally flower. Flowers usually mean seeds. I checked every restroom I could get access to, including most of the rooms during the big ‘the inn is never full’ test and haven’t found anything that looks like a flower let alone a seed. Muriel suggested taking a cutting but that might kill the source plant,” Todd responded. “My plan right now is to try a cutting off that ruined facility we found near the entrance. That and check any plant we come across for seeds.”

“Which is why you noticed the wall was too close to the door in the gallery sanitary facility,” Grandmother observed.

“Yep,” Todd admitted. Grandmother turned slightly and looked over at Sarah.

“Sarah, how did we do in Chicago?” she asked.

“We did really well among the adults,” She reported. “By my rough calculations I think we are near thirty percent participation. We heard from every tier three crafter, and a large chunk of the tier twos. Where we really shined was the participation of the fighters, er thieves. I think a good half of everyone tier one or above tried to rob us. The weakness of this approach was that except for that orphanage next door, we really didn’t get any spells from children. We also missed the really basic stuff from most people, the hot water, cold water spells.”

“That was an orphanage next door?” Grandmother asked. “How did I miss that?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You didn’t go over to deliver the toys,” Ellen responded. “Once we realized what it was, Companion managed to forget a couple starter tools in a back room of the suite. I openly donated about half our vent pins after talking to the woman on duty. I guess vent pins are a big expense for them.”

“Hmm… I need to think about setting up or sponsoring some kind of training program for the orphans. Something that sounds really vile and criminal but is actually crafting or hunting,” Grandmother said to herself.

“You know Do-Fa-Ti may be able to help with that. The way he inspected that green made me think he knew of a way to counterfeit them. I have been thinking, is counterfeiting really counterfeiting if Control lets you do it?” Ellen observed.

“He was probably reading the symbols to find out how the coin was acquired,” Sarah commented.

“What?” Ellen asked, turning to her sister.

“It is in the book,” Sarah explained.

“What about the cart for transporting components?” Grandmother asked Sarah. “How are you doing with that?”

“I have a version that works well. I think with the amount of stuff we are talking about taking we might need two. I can chain them together for straight runs. I really haven’t come up with a great solution for going up stairs. By using bags and having you do all the packing, we should be able to keep them small enough two people can carry one up,” Sarah answered Grandmother. “I don’t think Todd’s plants will be able to go into a bag, so we may need another cart just for them. Todd and I haven’t built it yet because we really need to see the pot sizes first.”

“I’ve gathered enough components in bronze to make two furniture sets. I have steel for the other two. I have enough of the inch and a half wood sticks to do all the couches. If Ellen upholsters one we have extra. I have plates for the chairs. I have plenty of those sculpted wood backrests, but the seats are rare and I sold them all,” Alex explained.

“Perfect,” Grandmother replied, “I would rather someone in the square enjoys a rare piece for years then we risk it in an experiment we have no idea will work or not.”

“I have iron and some steel, for all that extra stuff you mentioned. Shelves, tables, workbenches etc. I’d like to get more before we leave. I can put together one or two of each of these, but it sounded like you really wanted to throw volume at this quest,” Alex commented.

“Ok,” Grandmother said. “Have you had any luck with beds?”

“For humans, no,” Alex replied. “But Companion has found three selkie beds, complete with the round rock. I have one on sale in the shop, but we can take the other two.”

“All that round rock has got to be bulky,” Grandmother observed. “Just pack one.” She turned and looked at Todd. “I think we should take one of these custom bags Ellen and Sarah made for the workshop crafting tools and sneak into Londontown. We can try to pack the bed in my store there into it. We can take it apart to the components and the mattress is really very squishy.”

“I have enough cloth to cover two chairs and a sofa,” Ellen volunteered. “I hope I have enough fiber scrap for one chair. When we get back my sponge purchase should be ready for delivery at Seagrass, so I can experiment with them to see if they will work for the sofa. I just need to cut and sew the covers. With that new small hand stitcher, I think I can get the covers on after we arrive.”

“Companion,” Grandmother said, turning to the selkie, “I forgot to ask you after our last visit to Seagrass, did you get a chance to talk to Enchanter about inventory access?”

“Inventory access? You mean prize altars right?” Companion asked. Although Todd knew the selkie wasn’t using their old name for inventory access but rather the selkie word for the same item. Todd worked out what it might translate to literally.

“Does that literally mean ‘window to the true god’s pocket’?” Todd asked Alex. Alex was their human expert on the selkie language.

“That is pretty close,” Alex responded. “Opening to the true god’s pocket dimension or universe might be more accurate.”

“Yes,” Grandmother said to Companion, “We are trying to be more accurate in our description. Control’s pocket dimension access is too long in our language, so I shortened it to what we keep in there, which is inventory.”

“Yes, that is accurate,” Companion agreed, shaking his head in his imitation of the human nod. “Enchanter told me when she was young and traveled in open water, her mother owned a totem. In certain holy places, with the correct ceremony the totem could call an inventory access.”

“And this totem, was it crafted?” Grandmother asked.

“No,” Companion responded. “It is purchased from a specialty vendor, very costly. Enchanter knows it couldn’t be used very many times. She couldn’t remember how many. It may be as little as one. Her mother carried the totem for years, never using it, but saving it for an emergency.” Companion was digging through his pack as he reported his findings. He pulled out a sheet of vellum. “She gave me a drawing of what she remembered.”

Companion walked over to give it to Grandmother before returning to his post. The lights in the rest were dimming down for the night cycle. Grandmother threw light spells to turn them all back on so she could study the sheet. Sketched on the sheet were multiple views of a large bone. Engraved into the sides of it were a set of symbols Grandmother recognized. They were from the set that appeared on all the physical control interfaces.

Enchanter last saw this item as a child, but the drawing possessed a fine detail. Grandmother thought they could reproduce it from the drawing alone. The symbols didn’t seem like they were the same as what was on an inventory access. They seemed more like what was on the travel map, but it wasn’t a match for that either.

“Sarah,” she said, rising to her feet to hand the sketch to the younger woman, “Do those symbols look like the ones on an inventory access to you?”

“No,” Sarah replied after she studied it. “It’s not a match for a vendor either. I wonder if it can call any interface and the ceremony is how you tell it which one.”

“That sounds right,” Grandmother responded. “I think the holy place is an indication that you have to pick a spot that is already plumbed for the item you want. You can’t put an inventory access in the middle of a green. If you know an access was someplace before, this totem can respawn it.”

“Holy place makes me think there might be some other way to tell. Have we ever inspected an area after an access remodels? Perhaps there is some indication left behind,” Todd suggested.

“Or,” Ellen suggested, “there is another type of item that points to those places. Maybe an trinket of some kind?”

“A topic for the jeweler the next time we are in Seagrass,” Grandmother suggested. “Did you find out any information about the coliseum?’

“I did better there,” Companion replied. “Ray-Do-So told me there is one at Whitewater. Whitewater is the selkie federation capital. Many selkie go there to try the true god’s testing grounds. She believes its presence is why Whitewater was able to get the votes to win the capital. She was very surprised to learn there is one by Home Square. She said it is an indication of the true god’s favor.”

“How does it work?” Alex asked.

“The true god brings the very walls of the pit alive to test those that present themselves. The difficulty of the conflict is scaled to the challenger and targets your weaknesses. You can challenge it as much as you want, but rewards are only given twice at each tier, one for group conflict and one for single combat. Punishments for disappointing the true god can be severe and include death.” Companion said seriously. “Ray-Do-So believes no one under tier three is killed outright in the pit. They can be badly maimed and will die if not treated promptly. Many die trying to reach help.”

“What about tier three?” Alex asked “Are they killed outright?”

“They can be, if the true god is very disappointed, but more usually they are just maimed as well. Tier four or above you win or you die,” Companion commented.

“Sounds like it is geared to tier three. If you can’t win at a higher tier, Control is disappointed,” Alex observed.

“Ray-Do-So said there is a legend that occasionally the Tinkerer will come out. When I asked Enchanter she said no, the Tinkerer wanders the under darkness. Both agreed if you see the Tinkerer do not attack it. Instead you trade with it. If it is impressed with your offerings it will challenge you to a kind of crafting duel, where you can learn a new craft.”

“What does this Tinkerer look like?” Ellen asked obviously interested in this development.

“Ray-Do-So said it is metal, while Enchanter used old words I do not know,” Companion admitted. “What little I understood reminded me of your little helpers on the Speedwell, with only two legs and two arms.”

“A robot then,” Grandmother said. “Probably in the builder's form, like the skeleton in the coliseum pit. Interesting. The ‘under darkness’ might be pipes or tunnels.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Alex asked Companion. “We could have been training up.”

“I wait to tell the Elder first, as is proper,” Companion retorted. “I was having fun playing thug in Chicago,” which was the selkie’s way of admitting he forgot all about his report. The way the selkie sang Chicago almost made Todd laugh. Obviously Companion enjoyed his time there.

“Kai said he lost in the coliseum, but perhaps someone in his community was visited by this Tinkerer. That might be how his group learned glass making,” Sarah commented.

“If the blacksmith’s distant relative really did have a piece of glass armor, someone won,” Todd remarked.

“Maybe Kai’s Da made that armor,” Grandmother countered. “Although Kai did only mention crafting wine glasses, which must be a starter item.”

“We will have to get Kai to tell us more when he wakes,” Alex commented.

“Do you think it is wise to bring him with us back to Home Square?” Todd asked Grandmother, as he looked over at the sleeping crafter. “You did pick him up in a thieves' city.”

“Wise, no,” Grandmother responded. “But life isn’t all about wisdom, sometimes it is about taking a chance.”